


Shellfish Tendencies

by Kudalyn



Series: Of Wrecks and Wraiths [2]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Apologies, Drama, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Memory Loss, Mermaids, Mermaids/Siren, Minor Injuries, Minor Violence, Romance, Romantic Fluff, Siren
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2020-12-04
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:33:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27885313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kudalyn/pseuds/Kudalyn
Summary: Change is difficult.It's made even more difficult when someone is treating you like a different version of yourself, and you're feeling confused, upset... and mildly jealous about it.Why can't he be left alone to skulk in his sunken ship in peace?----------Continuation to Jolly Sailor Bold, my YGO merfolk AU.
Relationships: Atem/Mutou Yuugi
Series: Of Wrecks and Wraiths [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2041834
Comments: 6
Kudos: 50





	Shellfish Tendencies

**Author's Note:**

> First off, I want to both apologize to you all and thank you.  
> My life has been very, very busy lately. Not in a bad way - but it's not left much time for me to indulge creatively in the fandoms I do so love.  
> This was initially written some months ago in a desperate fit of self-indulgence between projects, but had been sitting unfinished and unedited for a long time. I finally managed to piece it together properly - after I had some of my wonderful friends be my editors and proofreaders for it.  
> This is a sequel/continuation to Jolly Sailor Bold. Any future entries I do will be as oneshots, not chapters, to keep things tidier (and allow more wiggle room for less strict continuation)  
> I also want to apologize to anyone that's read Within the Catacombs and has been waiting for me to work on it again - as much as I want to, I haven't had the time to do so, despite having most of the story planned out in my head. I WILL return to that story as soon as I am able to, but for now the most I can do is attempt oneshots for my other stories.  
> You don't know how much it means to me every time I get a wonderful, glowing comment left on one of my stories. It means the world to me that folks can enjoy what I write - and even want to return to them to reread them. Your comments make me want to keep writing and keep making stories. I'm sorry I can't reply to every one of them - but I love them all the same, and treasure every one. Each comment makes my day better.  
> I sincerely hope that the world treats you all kindly, and that you enjoy my stories. Thank you.

“I told you to stop coming around here,” Yugi said flatly, arms crossed and floating in the hole that took up much of the left side of the ship’s hull. Atem not-so-sheepishly swam around him, and Yugi gave a soft, resigned sigh.

“Surely my dear, you never mean that. Otherwise you’d have long since stopped me yourself.” Atem cheeked, rolling over casually as he swam. He watched Yugi drift back in the ship after him, the other siren’s arms now dangling at his sides with a distinct, unimpressed air.

“Besides,” Atem said, shaking the canvas bag he had brought with him. “We never finished our game of Mercenaries the other day. And I know you hate leaving a game incomplete.”

What Yugi actually hated right then was how Atem knew that he disliked leaving games unfinished… when he had never told Atem such a thing about himself.

As Atem took the board out of the bag and started placing markers in perfect position - exactly in the places where they’d left off last time, of that he was sure - Yugi found himself hating the red siren a little bit as well.

But such was usual with Atem’s visits, Yugi torn between wanting to rip the long, pretty, frilly fins right off of Atem’s body, or just sinking into his arms like an old friend. An old friend he didn’t know at all.

By then, Atem was sitting on a box with the board waiting on a barrel before him, looking up expectantly. Withholding a groan, Yugi sat down on the seat Atem had carefully set up for him on the opposite side. He didn’t know why Atem insisted on Yugi always using this mouldering, two-days-away-from-being-driftwood chair, but whatever. Had to be more comfortable than a spongy old box, at least.

“I believe it was your turn, my dear.” Atem said gallantly, gesturing over the board with a flourish. Feeling the frown growing on his face that was becoming so familiar he was sure it would leave permanent creases, Yugi picked up a game piece and moved it forward.

At least Atem had stopped calling him some of the worst pet names. ‘My undying heart’ made Yugi’s stomach flip nauseously. ‘My sweetest love,’ had earned Atem a hard hair-pull and a hissed threat.

‘My beautiful beloved,’ had Yugi bodily throwing objects at Atem till he fled his territory.

Another thing that was strange about Atem was his jewelry. Seeing Atem dressed up so sparkly in gold and jewels that he could be seen from leagues away had made Yugi’s chest clench anxiously for some reason. Likely that he was probably attracting attention from other sirens and predators - he’d chased Atem off as quickly as he’d spotted him. Atem had stopped dressing up so gaudily after that.

But Yugi had rapidly learned that Atem was nothing if not stubborn and resilient, and each time Yugi chased him off, Atem was back the next day with another peace offering. Yugi knew his ship was prime territory, but he didn’t understand why Atem was trying to sweeten him up with gifts and games.

Gifts such as pretty trinkets, useless human objects from likely his own collection… whenever Yugi saw them, his chest ached with confusing, strange feelings. Nostalgic sadness that made him feel like he was sinking to the sea floor. Yugi had sent him packing with each one.

Then he had the audacity to show up with human games. Boards made of weakening wood, stone pieces puckered by sea water, things that Yugi really, really shouldn’t care for at all.

But somehow he had been drawn to them, knew how to play each one, hands moving without his consent, strategies he’d never thought of filling his mind. While he’d rather be gutted by a shark than admit it, he found himself nearly physically unable to chase Atem off of his ship when Atem had a game in his hands, offering to play with him with those wide, garnet eyes and pretty scarlet scales.

Yugi blinked down, and realized he’d been playing the game against Atem without thinking. As if someone else was playing it for him, controlling his hands.

“I’m hungry!” Yugi yelled, eyes squeezed shut as he pushed away from the barrel hard enough to make it wobble. Atem had to scramble to keep the game pieces from flying everywhere.

“Wh - Yugi?” Atem floundered as Yugi fled the room, refusing to look back. Not when he felt like his face would be so easily read that Atem could attack him while he was weak, distracted by ghosts of feelings that Yugi swore weren’t his own.

That was probably his end goal after all. Weaken and confuse him, wait ‘till his guard was down and then tear into his throat, stealing his ship for his own. Atem seemed to know the ship like the back of his fin anyways, finding things hidden in the sand and debris as if they’d always been there, didn’t you know, Yugi?

Fins on autopilot, propelling himself away from his ship and all these confusing feelings, Yugi was startled when a flash of silver fins filled his view. Head filled with nonsense and worry, he’d swam right into a school of fish. The swarm nearly darted away from him, but with a vicious snap of his long tail, Yugi stunned one before it escaped.

At least he’d gotten better with his aim, Yugi thought ruefully, as he swam up to the limp fish and quickly ripped into its gills. Though the bruises he used to leave on his body had long since healed, the bruises to his ego still remained.

Without even thinking, he tore into the fish, scales scattering and glinting in the light as he roughly stripped it and began eating. At least this was second nature to him, able to rip and devour mindlessly once the scent of blood was around him.

“Yugi! Why did - oh,” The deep voice coming up behind him screeched to a halt. Yugi spun around with his cheeks filled with meat.

Beyond the cloud of scales and blood that surrounded him, Yugi saw Atem frozen in place with a… distinctly disgusted expression on his face.

Yugi watched as the current changed slightly, the bloody water wafting over closer to Atem. He also watched Atem practically crumple in on himself with a distinctly greenish hue flooding his cheeks.

Yugi blinked, then grinned around his mouthful of fish.

He gulped it down, not bothering to wipe the fish guts spread across his cheeks off, and with a flick of his fin drifted towards Atem. A thrill of nasty delight went through him when Atem pushed away from him an equal distance.

“I said I was hungry, so I got something to eat!” Yugi said, and with another flick of a fin, easily swam into Atem’s space. Before he could react, Yugi held the fish in his hands out towards Atem, blood trailing behind the movements like ribbons. “Want a bite?”

Yugi _reveled_ in the full-body shudder Atem gave at the fish being shoved under his nose. Atem visibly held back a gag, withdrawing posthaste from Yugi to a safe, less fishy distance. “Urh - no, n-no, I’m… very much not hungry. At all. I’ll - I’ll leave you to your meal. Till next time, Yugi.”

Ever proper even in throes of nausea, Atem gave a pretty bow, and then fled as elegantly as possible, for once greener than he was red.

\------------------

From then on, Yugi kept a sharp eye out for flickers of scarlet in the seas of blues, greens and yellows that made up the reef around his ship. Any time he caught a glimpse of the color, he would immediately dash out and snag up the nearest worth-eating fish, and hold its weakly wriggling form in his claws until he was sure that Atem was coming near.

As soon as he was in clear view, Yugi would take the largest, most dramatic, most messy bite of the fish as he could. Blood and scales scattering in the sea, he’d watch Atem freeze, and turn tail at the sight.

Sure, after a few weeks he perhaps was starting to get sick of stuffing fish in his face at the barest hint of red - even more so when it was a false flag, and a bright red fish swam carelessly by. But still! Yugi basked in the silence and solitude for once in quite some time, feeling like he’d finally, properly scared the red siren off from trying to steal his ship from him. The memory of the green hue to Atem’s skin brought him deep entertainment... with an undercurrent of shame, the barest feeling like he should apologize for the treatment.

He still wasn’t sure what kind of siren wouldn’t eat fish - perhaps Atem was more of a kelp-eater? He’d seen Atem’s sharp teeth in his glamorous smiles however, so it’d be a shame if he was. The term ‘algae-sucker’ had wafted into his head more than once, though he had no idea where the thought had come from. It felt like a suitable insult however - Atem seemed to have enough pet names for him, so one for Atem was fair game.

Yugi brushed off any lingering hint of guilt the thoughts were bringing him. All he’d been doing to start all this off was eating! He’d even been courteous for once and offered to share his meal with Atem. A far cry from once threatening him with a thin, still sharp sword he’d found in the wreckage of the ship.

Too busy patting himself on the back for being so kind for once, Yugi didn’t even notice Atem floating in the doorway, watching as Yugi held a silent conversation with himself.

A cleared throat made Yugi flinch. He barely refrained from backpedalling into the remnants of glass that were still in the window frames that filled one wall of the captain’s quarters, glaring wild-eyed at Atem, puffing himself up intimidatingly.

“You! What did I say about coming into my ship!?” Yugi huffed, and Atem rolled his eyes at Yugi as he pulled a new bag out from behind his back.

“Yes, yes. Don’t do it. But seeing as how you seem to have been so… ravenous lately,” Atem said, “I thought I’d offer a different kind of food to you to extend your palette.” He finished, opening the bag with a tug.

Yugi swore if the red siren pulled out a fistful of kelp he really was going to call him an algae-sucker to his face, but instead Atem pulled out a large - and very angry - crab from the depths of the bag.

Yugi couldn’t help but pull back. Early days on his own, with barely any instincts or memories to help him distinguish food from foe had led to some… unpleasant experiences with said creatures.

“Uh- I don’t- “ Yugi started, but then stared, amazed, as Atem deftly handled the crab, avoiding its claws before tugging them off completely. Disarmed, the creature was helpless as he crushed its head with one effortless squeeze of his hand.

Atem held the dead creature out to Yugi with a flourish. “A little more effort to find and catch than a fish, but much more rewarding and tasty to eat. More filling too, in my opinion.”

Yugi stared from the crab, to Atem, then back again. He reached forward, taking it gingerly from him as if expecting it to spontaneously grow claws again and retaliate.

Atem had gone through the effort to hunt down and catch a formidable foe, just to bring him food.

The guilt Yugi had been doing a good job of pushing down came up at full force. All he’d done was taunt Atem at every turn, thinking he was weak for avoiding eating fish, when instead Atem was being resourceful and could find food Yugi had never even thought to hunt for.

Yugi looked up at Atem, but he was distracted - not noticing Yugi’s internal struggle as he disarmed a second crab, obviously having caught one for himself to share in a meal with Yugi.

Looking down at the dark red carapace of the crab in his hands, Yugi crinkled his nose -- and took a large bite right out of the shell.

He winced as the sharp shards of the shell dug into his gums, but he powered through it, unable to hear anything but the crunching resonating through his skull. It didn’t… seem very appetizing, if the shell was this hard to down, but inside there seemed to be soft, light flesh. Perhaps there was more to this than he’d initially thought.

Yugi looked up at Atem, pausing in his chewing - only to see Atem staring frozen with wide eyes at Yugi, in the moment of cracking open one of the crab’s legs with his hands and pulling the flesh out from inside.

Oh. That seemed like a better method than biting right through it.

“Yu-Yugi, no, that’s not how you - how did you do that?” Atem seemed equal parts amazed and horrified, as if he hadn’t been doing something just as odd to Yugi.

Yugi chewed a bit more, then shrugged, lifting a hand to his mouth to pull out the shards of the unappetizing shell. “It’s what I usually do, so…” He winced and pulled out a tooth as well - that one had been loose for days, so it was about time it came out.

Atem shook his head in wonder, before drifting closer. “There’s… a better way, and less… sharp. The crab has joints that are weaker here, all you have to do is - “

Yugi watched on as Atem explained how to effortlessly get to the tasty crab insides, without losing a tooth over it.

\-----------------------

  
Atem was strange. Well, he’d always known Atem was strange, right from their first stressful, emotional meeting. But Atem really was strange.

Atem had insisted on keeping the tooth he’d lost over the crab, and started sporting it wound around his neck with a thin cord. Yugi thought it clashed with that golden band choker he always wore, but he wasn’t about to stop him. Not like he could do much damage to Yugi with a single tooth.

What kind of siren was Atem, anyways? He was built thin and frilly, but could swim almost as swiftly as Yugi could. His physical strength seemed to eclipse Yugi’s, yet he’d never once tried to use it against him even with how antagonistic Yugi acted towards him. Fish made him nauseous, but he scouted out and snagged crustaceans like he had a personal grudge against them. His scarlet scales were a perfect complement to his dark complexion, unlike Yugi’s own ghostly pale skin and dark purple scales.

And how Atem treated him… any aggression, any threat was met with patience and respect - mostly. A bit of cheek here and there, but whenever Yugi was truly angry or cornered, Atem backed off every single time, no questions asked.

And then there were the quips… little things here and there he said as if expecting Yugi to immediately pitch in on the topic, finish the other half of the sentence. Atem would stare at Yugi expectantly for a few moments, but when only met with silence or confusion he’d deflate and change the topic.

But the thing was - nearly each time Atem would bring up something small, Yugi would drown for a moment.

Just a moment, but it was a full moment that’d steal away his breath, memories and flashes filling his vision and ears of things said in his voice, done with his hands - but less solid and speckled with purple, and more see-through.

By the time he’d shake it off and catch his breath, Atem would already be onto another topic, hardly giving Yugi enough time to process what had happened.

Atem may be _strange_. But what he really was, was driving Yugi _mad._

“Yugi!” Right on time, Atem’s voice cut through his musings, and Yugi rolled over with a groan on the half-crumpled lounge chair he was reclining on. Sure, each time he moved little clouds of disintegrated filling puffed out, but it was still comfortable enough.

“Yugi, there you are,” Atem said, delighted, drifting in without permission — as always. The most Yugi could muster anymore was a frown at Atem’s blatant disrespect of his territory, but it seemed there wasn’t anything he could do anymore to try to scare off the red siren - regretfully.

“What do you want,” Yugi droned, arms crossed over his eyes. Atem obviously took this as Yugi being happy to see him instead of the resigned tiredness it was, because his voice was even perkier the next time he spoke.

“I was looking through my collection, and I was thinking — You know how to play many games, but I think I might have one that you don’t know very well. I can teach it to you, if you’d like! Might be more entertaining than us just trying to one-up each other on our usual games, hmm?” He asked, already pulling out pieces from his usual canvas bag and placing them on a nearby wide crate.

Yugi hauled himself up - already tired from Atem’s presence, but intrigued at the thought of a new game. Perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad learning a new game, instead of being haunted with memories of ones he somehow already knew how to play.

The game was cobbled together from remnants of other games - the board was obviously from an old set of Draughts, snapped in half where the wood had split from sea water. The pieces were from multiple games, half were white and half were black. But instead of dice, there was a handful of flat, thin sticks on the side of the board.

“Now, it’s a bit different from what you’re used to, but I think you’ll do just fine. Are you familiar with counting sticks?” Atem asked.

Yugi froze where he was leaning over the crate, eyes wide and unseeing.

_“Are you familiar with counting sticks?” came his tease, familiar and taunting, his eyes glittering with the thought of a challenge. Glittering fit him, seeing as how he claimed he used to be a king, but he wore gold so well that it probably was true._

_“Not at all, I’m afraid, but I’m sure Your Highness would be more than happy to enlighten me,” he teased back, following Atem’s chuckle as the siren started searching through their games collection for something to use as a stand-in. He wanted to assist him, but experience had taught him than when Atem was doing something, it was best to leave him be for the first few moments as he powered forward with his plans. Besides, last time he’d tried elbowing in to help, Atem had passed right through his form, leaving the both of them shivering with an extremely unpleasant sensation of cold and hot pins-and-needles through their whole bodies._

_Being a ghost was a dreadful situation no matter what, but in times like this he really did wish that—_

“Yugi?” came Atem’s voice cutting through the fog the same time his hand gripped Yugi’s shoulder, and Yugi shook his head roughly.

“Urh— it’s, it’s nothing,” He stammered, forcibly squeezing his eyes closed a few times to will the images away. “What - “

A flash of gold caught the corner of his eye, and he looked down at Atem’s hand. On his wrist was a cuff - a bangle of thin gold beaten and cut into the shape of a bird in flight.

“Where— that’s new…” Yugi trailed off, eyes glued widely to the metal.

Atem let go of his shoulder, holding up his wrist so the gold caught the light filtering into the room brightly.

“Ah, this is an old favourite, but it’s starting to get a bit delicate so I don’t wear it as often.” He spoke of it softly, gaze as tender as his tone. “Beautiful, is it not?”

_“Beautiful, is it not?” he spoke up, and watched as the siren whirled around in shock and fright. He was surprised the creature hadn’t noticed him when he’d first came in, but then again the creature had seemed set on the shiny trinkets in his room._

_That, and when he stood directly in the light coming in through the windows he knew his form was nearly invisible._

_Still, the siren hadn’t even taken notice when he’d picked up his sword and sat down in his chair— but a dramatic entrance was just as good as a surprise one, and he’d managed to do both it seemed. The creature backed up till its back was against the wall, a defensive posture. Good, he’d caught it well off guard._

_Thankful that he still had enough sense of form to touch objects, he flicked the sword up and around so it caught the light, and pointed it directly at the siren currently trespassing on his ship. “Now that I have your attention… what are you doing on my ship?”_

“What— no— _stop,_ ” Yugi stammered, then shouted, pushing Atem away from him.

The red siren stumbled as much as one could underwater, steadying himself from where he knocked back into the crate. “Yugi, what—“

“No! Just— shut up! You— you’re doing this on purpose!” Yugi hissed, bent over with eyes shut against the afterimages in his mind, of him with legs, of him with a seethrough form, of an Atem without the look in his eyes like he was hoping to see a friend but disappointed when he wasn’t them. “What are you doing to me!?”

“Yugi, I’m just— “ Atem was cut off again by another shove, this one harder than before. The crate nearly flipped over from the force, instead moving aside and scattering game pieces.

“No! You don’t - stop doing this to me! Stop putting these - these things in my head, of people I don’t know, of you - I’m not him!” Yugi scrubbed his hands against his face before pulling fingers through his hair and tugging back. “I’m just - I’m just some stupid weak little shark! I’m not - I’ve never died!”

He could feel Atem move towards him, and gave an angry warning crack with the whip of his tail. Atem got the hint and stopped. “Yugi, I’m trying to help you,”

“You’re not _helping!_ ” Yugi said, snapping up to glower at Atem. “You’re just confusing me! You’re filling my head with stupid, stupid things! I never used to be human, I never died, and I’m not your ‘beloved!”

He ignored the hurt flash on Atem’s face, and in a flick of his fins got right up into Atem’s space, so close he saw his pupils constrict in shock.

“I’m. Not. Him,” he seethed, punctuating each word with a push to Atem’s chest. The final shove was the hardest, fueling it with all his anger and confusion. Unable to defend himself - or perhaps unwilling, Atem was jostled around until the final shove propelled himself backwards quite a few feet.

The few feet needed to smash his back into the remnants of the windows of the captain’s quarters.

Yugi’s anger evaporated as Atem hit the frame, the sound of splintering wood and crunching glass almost as loud as Atem’s gasp. The frame gave way, but took most of the force, so at least Atem didn’t fly out the window. As was, when he crumpled to the floor, Yugi’s stomach dropped out at the bright flash of glass embedded into his back, and the scent of blood.

“Atem!” He dashed forward, hands out and hovering. He didn’t know what to do - he’d caused this. He’d hurt Atem - for all his threats about tearing off fins and out throats, the sight of Atem actually physically hurt and bleeding - because of _him_ \- made him feel like he’d puke.

But that was the last thing needed right then, so he swallowed down bile heavily and gingerly touched Atem’s shoulders. “Atem - I’m so - I didn’t mean - “

“Yugi,” Atem wheezed, and Yugi froze. “Just - please… take it out,”

His voice, normally so rich, was a wisp of its normal self, and Yugi immediately tugged Atem forward to better expose his back. The rough gasp his action caused likely meant that wasn’t the best thing to do, but he already had his fingers on a hunk of glass, and pulled.

Atem gave a pained grunt through his teeth with each shard pulled out. None of them seemed to be very deep, so at least he hadn’t punctured anything. And the shards were large, nothing tiny seemed to be left behind. Each one left a trail of blood following behind them as Yugi chucked them out the gap the window used to be. The scent made his heart race even harder than it already was.

He wasn’t sure if it was for hunger, or fear, or something in between, but it wasn’t something he wished to experience ever again.

After what seemed like forever, all the shards seemed to be out, and Yugi’s fingers gingerly smoothed down Atem’s back to feel for more - but Atem pulled away from his touch, leaving Yugi frozen and crouched on the floor.

Atem staggered forward a few beats of his tail, but straightened up a bit with a wince. One arm was wrapped around his stomach as he looked back at Yugi, but not at Yugi specifically, his eyes downcast.

“I… apologize. It seems… I may have been mistaken, and my presence here was more of a hindrance than I’d ever thought. I’ll… I won’t bother you again.” He said, voice soft, and disappeared through the empty doorway slowly.

Yugi sat on the floor for a long time after that, the lingering taste of Atem’s blood in the water slowly fading.

\------------------

“Stupid, little, fuckers…” Yugi hissed, up to his shoulder in a hole in a rock that he likely shouldn’t be digging into. He didn’t even know where that curse came from, somewhere from the depths of his mind that Atem had stirred up, but language like that was starting to pepper his speech more and more.

He found he almost couldn’t bring it in himself to care anymore.

Pain burst up his arm, and he withdrew it with a loud yell - and dragging out the large crab he’d been trying to scrape out for a good chunk of time snapped onto his index finger. Whipping his hand around instinctively to try and dislodge the crustacean didn’t help, and he flailed around like a moron for a few moments before finally grabbing the crab’s claw and crushing it with his free hand.

The crab dropped to the sand and immediately tried to scuttle away, but Yugi pounced on it, sand kicking up as he wrestled it into the canvas bag he had brought.

Little monster tucked away, he sighed, looking at his fingers forlornly. Somehow they were all accounted for, but highly bruised, and more than a little cut up.

He really should have asked Atem at one point how to properly catch them, but he’d been too proud to ask. Now three hefty crabs later - many small ones discarded, and one very angry eel - he was pinched and bruised and sorely tempted to just beat the bag against a rock and go back to his ship.

But it’d been many moons since he’d last seen Atem, and what he’d thought was relief at the silence at one point in time, turned out to just be guilt and loneliness. The fact that what used to be glimpses of a past life were now not so much as flashes - but much more like torments - didn’t help how he felt.

It was an odd experience, having lived what felt like one life, and been perfectly happy with that, only to have what felt like another self dumped upon him. He didn’t know what Atem had hoped or expected of him at one point - maybe to magically turn back into that lost lover he likely had been searching for in Yugi.

But Yugi was Yugi - and he mostly liked himself as he was, thank you very much. He wasn’t dashing or charismatic or jolly like that other him seemed to be. Waking up all alone in a whale graveyard, surrounded by darkness and bones… wasn’t the best start. Neither was learning the hard way how to fend for himself and find food. But he’d managed well enough, and that was all he’d needed.

Then Atem came into his life, and promptly turned it all inside out.

Yugi sighed loudly, harshly. He’d never enjoyed introspection, but he’d been forced to do it a lot lately.

Straightening his back, he puffed out his chest as he picked a direction and started swimming. It actually wasn’t too terribly far from his ship to Atem’s cave. He’d followed Atem back to his home one day, curiosity over where this strange siren was coming from fueling him.

It was a pleasant little thing, a hole in the side of a large rock formation surrounded by reefs. Atem had even managed to cultivate a little curtain out of plants to protect the entrance. So charming.

Yugi peeked out from the large sponge coral he hid behind, looking for any signs of movement from the cave. It was dark inside from what little he could see, though it could open up further inside. He’d never been, and had never had an interest to.

Nibbling on his lip, Yugi pulled back to pace a little bit. What if Atem wasn’t home? Wouldn’t it be his luck, putting in all this effort and coming out all this way just for nobody to be home. What an embarrassment it’d be - for him. To agonize over for the next three days.

Yugi groaned, tugging on his hair a bit before ruffling it and then straightening it out again. Fine. He was fine. He could do this. He was a big, strong shark that could handle anything. Almost anything. Okay, maybe not anything but a lot of things!

Allowing himself one last frustrated little squeak, he turned himself in the direction of Atem’s cave and started swimming forward before he could talk himself out of it again, like he’d already done three times in the past moon cycle. He could do this.

The closer he got, the more he started internally panicking. What if Atem had actually died? Those glass shards hadn’t gone in deep, but they were sharp and who knows how old. It’d been moons since he’d seen the red siren, and though Atem said he wouldn’t bother Yugi again, Yugi had been somewhat, maybe hoping maybe Atem would back on his promise.

He hadn’t though. The sound of Atem’s gasp punctuated by breaking glass had haunted his sleep.

Too soon, he was floating directly in front of Atem’s cave, staring at the curtain of plants that covered the entrance. They were very nice. Now what was he supposed to do. Call out? Cough? Knock on the door - as if anyone’d have a door down here?!

Scrubbing his hands on his face one last time, wincing at the cuts on his fingers, he inhaled a deep breath before letting it out. “...Atem?”

For what felt like tides, there was no answer. Long enough that Yugi almost turned tail and fled, but he finally detected faint movement from inside the cave.

Peering through the gaps in the plants was a garnet eye, the first glimpse Yugi had of Atem in ages. They stared at each other for a few moments, the silence choking.

“...What are you doing here?” Atem eventually asked.

Not even using his name, ouch. Yugi took the hit as well deserved as it was, and mustered the last of his bravado.

“I’m - I was just in the area, and - no, no, I wasn’t I was just - look.,” Yugi gave up, deflating. “I’m - I was worried about you. I know -”

He tied his fingers together, avoiding Atem’s searching gaze. “I haven’t been… treating you very well. Lately. Or, at all. You’ve been - mostly nice? To me. Okay, really nice. But it’s been… scary. You being nice to me has been scary. But it's still been nice.”

“I’ve never had… someone be this nice to me. Or this me, I guess. I still don’t know… what’s going on. You being around me and being nice to me has brought up a lot of scary things, and memories? I guess, if you want to call them that. I still don’t… really believe it all. You haven’t done the best job of explaining anything to me, though. Even if you’ve still been nice to me.”

Yugi took a breath, taking note of the subtle movement of Atem shifting back a bit from the  
curtain.

“I’m not - I don’t think I’m Him. That Yugi, you knew. Or maybe I am, or maybe I’m just a really shitty version of him. I don’t know enough to really decide. I don’t know if I want to be him, because I’m still getting used to being me.” Yugi swallowed through the tightness of his throat.

“But you seem to hold him - and me, for some reason - in some good light. And obviously he seemed to be pretty awesome, if he got someone as great as you to care for him. And maybe I’d like to be a little bit like him, if it means - if it means I can still have you around me. As a friend, at least.

“But I don’t - I’m scared. I keep getting scenes in my head, from the littlest things, and I can’t think half the time, and I can’t sleep. I don’t know who I am anymore, and that scares me. But you seem to have an idea of who I could be, so I— ” Yugi inhaled, fumbling and failing a few times before untying the bag from around his waist. It writhed in his grip.

“I got you these. As an apology… gift. Meal. Thing. I’m not - I don’t know how to be nice. But maybe you can help me, a bit. Please.” Yugi squeezed out, eyes clamped shut as he held the bag out ramrod straight in front of him. “And I’m really sorry for - hurting you. I never actually meant to hurt you, ever.”

He was met with silence. Not exactly the response he was hoping for, but what he deserved, probably. Yugi held out the peace offering for quite a while… long enough his arm started to ache a little.

Just before he was going to just put the bag on the ground and flee and never speak to Atem ever again, the bag lightened up a little bit. Cracking an eye open, Yugi saw Atem’s arm come out of the plant curtain, gently taking the bag from his grip. He let it go hesitantly, pulling his hand to his chest and holding it there, trying to contain whatever emotion was trying to burst its way out from his ribcage.

Atem pulled the bag back into the darkness, the sounds of fabric light as he untied the bag, peering inside. There was another long pause… then Atem pushed some of the curtain out of the way, letting Yugi see a bit more of him in the light.

“...I guess I’ve been doing quite a lot of assuming lately, haven’t I?” He said, and the burning, heavy feeling in Yugi’s chest softened just a little bit.


End file.
